


Out the Window

by K_Hanna_Korossy



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-31
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-05-17 08:08:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5860894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/K_Hanna_Korossy/pseuds/K_Hanna_Korossy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tag to "Window of Opportunity." He'd kinda like to know now what Daniel was asking him each day for all those weeks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Out the Window

First published in  _Redemption 8_ (2009)

 

Jack whistled as he walked through the checkpoint and into the mountain, stopping to give the guard a grin. It was an absolutely beautiful morning, between the rain and the unusually hot August morning. Of course, considering it was the first morning he’d seen in…well, a very long time, even hurricane weather and mudslides would have been great.

Daniel was standing at the elevator, waiting for it to arrive. Jack hadn’t seen him coming in; the archaeologist probably had arrived just a minute before. He joined Daniel at the door, nudging him chummily with one shoulder. “Mornin’.”

A narrow-eyed frown greeted him in return. “What are you so cheerful about?”

Early mornings, especially pre-caffeination, always left his team civilian in a churlish mood, but Jack shrugged it off. “Oh, I don’t know—how about that it’s the first time I’ve had a chance to _sleep_ in months? I almost forgot where my bedroom was.”

Despite himself, interest gleamed in Daniel’s eyes. “Really? It feels like you haven’t slept for months?”

So far, Jack hadn’t thought too deeply about the ramifications of re-living the last day for several months now, glad to note the yard hadn’t overgrown the house, the refrigerator wasn’t a toxic waste hazard, and he hadn’t missed most of hockey season. The less immediate questions—was he still fifty years old? Was he behind roughly six months’ worth of sleep and dinners?—hadn’t seemed to matter nearly as much. “Nope, wasn’t tired—well, yeah, tired of cereal and learning Ancient—just felt good to go to bed again. Didn’t exactly have a lot of time for napping during the loops.”

Daniel’s mouth pulled up. “Actually, it sounds like time was the one thing you did have.”

Jack arched one eyebrow. “Who’s the Ancient language expert here, Daniel?” he asked with a starchy smile. It was a bit of a random answer, but it sure felt good to say.

Daniel actually blanched, and muttered something very vile sounding. “You’re not gonna let me forget that one anytime soon, are you?”

“Ohhh, no.”

The elevator arrived, and Jack stepped inside, waiting patiently while Daniel shook off his irritation and joined him. The doors slid shut and the long descent began. “You realize that means you might have to help me translate anything Ancient we find in the future.”

Jack blinked at him for a moment, face blank, then suddenly clapped his hands together and smiled. “So, you have breakfast yet?”

“The power went out in the building—downed lines from the storm.”

Ah. It wouldn’t have been an answer except for the fact that the coffeemaker wouldn’t have worked without power, and nothing else mattered without that. Hence Dr. Sunshine. Coffee from the commissary was rarely a cause for joy, but it would at least make Daniel companionable. Jack was willing to wait.

Except, Daniel seemed to be making the effort to be nice, clearing his throat and the scowl from his face. “By the way, that was, uh, good work you two did yesterday.”

“Why, thank you, Dr. Jackson.” Jack bounced on his toes, hands behind his back, and wished he had a tape recorder or camcorder.

The scowl was already back. Jack made a note to track down a battery-powered coffeemaker.

But okay, an attempt had been made, and he should make the effort to reciprocate. Jack pursed his lips, watching the changing level numbers. And remembered something that had flitted through his mind the night before as he’d lain in bed thinking about the most recent version of that day. “Say, Daniel?”

Definite forced patience in Daniel’s expectant look. “What, Jack?”

“You remember breakfast yesterday?”

“Uh, I remember the last one.”

“Right. Doesn’t matter, really—each time we looped, you’d just asked me something. Lots of hand waving and drama, as I recall, but I didn’t catch the question. You remember what it was?”

Daniel’s mouth gaped. “I asked you something every loop for months and you still don’t know what it was?”

“Actually, the loop started right _after_ you asked the question.”

“So you weren’t listening the first time.”

Jack contemplated bluster but decided on the truth, albeit a touch sheepishly. “Nope.”

A deep sigh, and what almost looked like a grimace of pain. This from the man who’d been shocked by the suggestion Jack had read the mission briefing report. Was it really a surprise to anybody he tuned his geeks out occasionally? With the utmost respect and affection, of course.

Daniel finally just shook his head. He looked tired, and he hadn’t even been the one looping. “Don’t worry about it, Jack—it wasn’t important.”

No words were guaranteed to make him more curious than those. Both Jack’s eyebrows lifted. “Try me.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore, trust me.”

“I do. So what was it?”

The elevator doors slid open, and Daniel hurried out.

Jack jogged to catch up with him, and they strode toward the commissary together. “Daniel…” There had been maybe hundreds of loops to contemplate and ask, and Jack had never been really curious until now.

Daniel’s eyes finally flicked over to him, and he huffed in resignation. “I just wanted to know if we could go back to the planet after the mission yesterday so I can work on the translations with Malikai, okay? I’m the team linguist, but I feel like I’m always passing on any inscriptions we find so others can work on it.”

They walked on in silence, Daniel’s gaze somewhere between the floor in front of him and the hallway ahead, Jack’s gaze on Daniel. So that was the impassioned plea. And the reason he had tuned it out. If Daniel’s appeals for more study time off-world had been horses, Jack would’ve owned the largest ranch in the country.

And if Daniel hadn’t been so darn good at what he did and loved it so much, the loops would have gone on into infinity, taking Jack’s sanity with them. He had a new, very healthy appreciation for his team archaeologist/linguist, one that would probably fade just as fast the next time Daniel started bugging him for more time to play with his rocks, but at the moment…

“That’s not gonna happen. We’re not going back to the planet.”

“Well, obviously. Besides, you’ve translated it all already.”

That was very high up on the list of phrases he never thought he’d hear someone say to him. But Jack shrugged it off. “If I never see a solar flare again—”

“I know, you’ll die a happy man.”

Which brought to mind the question of whether all those repeated sun exposures would hurt them or if their skin reset each day, too. Probably, considering the loop where he’d broken his hand on…well, that was important, but it had been fine the next day. “Right.”

“I know. That’s why I said it didn’t matter anymore.”

But…it sorta did. Oh, not going to Malikai’s planet, which Jack would be very, very happy not to see ever again. The question about Daniel getting to do what he was trained for, however, that was still valid. And Jack was listening this time. “Okay,” he said abruptly.

Daniel frowned. “Okay, what?”

“Next planet we find some ruins or buildings or whatever on and you wanna stay and play, we’ll stay for a while.”

The leap of pleasure in his friend’s eyes was unmistakable. And Jack found himself wondering why this had been so hard before. “Really?” Just-restrained excitement. And, on its heels, sudden suspicion. “Why?”

Jack rolled his eyes. “Just go with it, Daniel.” Trust the guy to not only look the gift horse in the mouth, but haggle about the price, too.

“Yeah. Okay.” A small smile, undiminished in its happiness. “Thanks, Jack.”

“Sure,” he said expansively. A whole new day, right? Anything was possible. Speaking of which, they were almost at the commissary door, and the smell wafting out was doing indecent things to his salivary glands.

“Hey, there’s Sam.” Daniel nodded, and picked up trays for them both, passing one to Jack. “So what’re you having for breakfast?” he asked absently.

Jack inhaled, enraptured, and spoke with all the passion of a lover.

“Oatmeal.”

The End


End file.
